Sunflower Surprise: Garden by the Ocean

Portugal, rebuilt under glass, with 5,000 sunflowers and the air-conditioning on.

Worth it if you are already buying a Flower Dome ticket, and a good reason to buy one before 9 November if you have children or a hazy day to fill. Sunflower Surprise: Garden by the Ocean turns the dome's centre stage into Portugal, marking 45 years of ties between Singapore and Portugal, with more than 5,000 sunflowers planted through it. The compromise is that the set is the show: if you only want flowers, that is a lot of Lisbon to walk past. Go on a weekday morning if you can, and pair it with the Cloud Forest if your ticket covers both.

The set dressing is the reason to go. According to Gardens by the Bay, the centrepiece is a 12m-long, multi-tiered recreation of the hillside homes of Alfama, Lisbon's oldest quarter, with Portuguese textiles, crafts and tile-inspired details. Around it are Lisbon street kiosks, including a replica of a late-19th-century refreshment kiosk, a Porto shopfront with an Art Nouveau façade, the striped beach houses of Costa Nova and a 6m-tall Belém Lighthouse beside the bow of an old sailing ship. Vineyards, olive groves and cork oaks fill in the countryside.

Then the flowers: more than 5,000 sunflowers across 20 varieties, including supersized types that grow up to 1.8m tall, which means some of them will look your teenager in the eye. The Gardens singles out three to look for, 'Gold Lite', 'White Nite' and 'Sunfinity Red', the last a reminder that not every sunflower is yellow.

Because it is indoors and air-conditioned, it works on a hazy day when the outdoor gardens don't. There is a competition too: QR codes on contest boards in the dome enter you for return flights to Portugal, with terms and conditions attached (a slightly longer trip than the walk from Bayfront MRT).

Flower Dome admission applies. Cross into the Cloud Forest next door if you have the combined ticket, and don't leave it late: by 9 November the sunflowers will have taken their bow.

Good to know Runs Fri 9 Oct to Mon 9 Nov 2026, 9am–9pm, inside the Flower Dome; Flower Dome admission applies. Check the Gardens by the Bay site for current ticket prices and any maintenance closures before you go.

Sunflower Surprise: Garden by the Ocean | Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953 | Nearest MRT: Gardens by the Bay; Bayfront